sunny and boycs

There have been some truly great opening batsmen to grace Test cricket since its emergence in the early 20th century. Some of them left an undeniable mark on international cricket. We are truly unfortunate people of this generation who didn’t see all of their talent and couldn’t see for ourselves why they were so highly rated. To name a few, WG Grace, Sir Len Hutton, Jack Hobbs and Barry Richards come immediately to mind. Barry Richards was unlucky as he did not play much international cricket due to the ban on South African cricket at the time. However, we are fortunate to have seen some great opening hitters in our time, such as Gordon Greenidge, Matt Hayden, Virendra Sehwag, Bobby Simpson, Graham Gooch, etc. But the best ones were sunny and boyc, namely Sunil Gavaskar and Sir Geoffrey Boycott.

In 1972 Sir Donald Bradman selected the rest of the world team to come to Australia and play a Test series against Australia. There was much speculation as to who he would select as the best players for the World 11. Geoffrey Boycott was a foregone conclusion for the starting job, as he had established himself as the world’s leading opening hitter. Surprise surprise goal, Bradman’s selection was Sunil Gavaskar. This shocked many cricket pundits at the time. Sunny Gavaskar had made headlines with a sensational debut against the West Indies in his backyard. But that alone would not have been enough for the greatest cricket legend at the time to make the decision. Sunny did not disappoint the Don for years to come with an unbeatable career. He scored 13 Test hundreds against the West Indies, who were the best fast bowling attack at the time. As if that wasn’t enough, he scored 8 Test hundreds against Australia, which was the second best bowling attack at the time and 5 hundreds against Pakistan, which was third. So if he views his record as amazing, his aggregate top 3 centuries is against the top 3 bowling attacks at the time and with the highest runs scored against the best attack in the top. This is an incredible achievement and must be considered even higher than the record number of runs and centuries he set in his time. The man just wouldn’t give away his wicket no matter what. People criticized him for being selfish or slow and what not. But he has answered all those questions. His 94 ball hundred against WI in Delhi was a clear indication that he could score runs quickly if necessary. But he preferred to crush the opposition with a huge price tag on his window. There was another reason for this too. At the time, the Indian middle order was fragile and it was his wicket that used to pretty much seal the fate of the match for the Indians. Remember there was no helmet at the time and Gavaskar ducked and fought his way through many centuries against the fiercest fast bowling attacks of the day. The monumental quality opening batting figure was Sunny Gavaskar.

Geoffrey Boycott’s was towards the end of his career when I really began to understand Test cricket. He later became famous among Indian cricket fans for his Yorkshire accented television commentary. I still remember going to splits when he described Courtney Walsh’s hitting. He called Walsh the worst hitter in the world. He was hilarious as a commentator. What he showed through all of this was his knowledge of the game. The man is a technical hitting showcase. There is absolutely nothing this man has missed about hitting. Technical proficiency was epitomized in the way he beat and built his innings. When Boycott plays a coverage unit, he can be sure it’s the best way to go. I remember him telling a young man how to play a forward defensive shot and how to bend the leg to certain degrees and where to place the chin. It’s been amazing to watch. Boycs absolutely hated giving the wicket away from him. It was sometimes said that England had a hard time winning games, but that is mostly conjecture. England have never lost a Test match in which Boycott scored a hundred. He definitely he was the best first class cricket opening batsman of all time. He averaged over 100 twice in first-class cricket in the 1970s.

Both Sunny and Boycs think that Boycs was slightly better than Sunny. This thought comes mostly from Boycott’s technical expertise, but I don’t think so. I think Sunny was being modest after taking a look at her history. Scoring those kinds of runs against the best in the world consistently and in her backyard takes some work. I rate Sunny slightly better than Boycs. There isn’t much to it though, as Boycs said. 19-20.